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Prior to the recent NFL draft, we heard that the New Orleans Saints were likely to draft a quarterback in the opening rounds.
That’s because veteran Derek Carr had a “mysterious shoulder injury” which might keep him sidelined for the entire 2025 NFL season.
On Saturday, we learned that Derek Carr will not be playing football in the NFL at all – ever again.
The 34-year old starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints surprised many by announcing his retirement from pro football effective immediately.
Derek Carr’s throwing shoulder has not healed very well in the off-season. Doctors said that the shoulder is showing significant degenerative issues.
Unless Derek Carr is ambidextrous (he isn’t), the New Orleans Saints’ very expensive $37.5 million per year starting quarterback is now permanently unavailable.
The Saints will “just” owe Derek Carr his $10 million signing bonus in 2025 if the quarterback files his official NFL retirement papers before the end of the month.
It could have been worse (financially speaking) if Derek Carr had waited to announce his retirement later this summer. By retiring in May, he saved the Saints about $30 million in salary.
Derek Carr’s contract with the Saints ($150 million over four years) has already cost the team more than $75 million in 2023 and 2024.
His two years in New Orleans yielded season records of just 9-8 and 5-12.
That’s only a 41% winning percentage for a team which spent more money than the NFL salary cap allowed each year.
This is the second Carr whose NFL QB career fizzled quickly
Derek Carr’s older brother David became the #1 overall draft pick of the expansion Houston Texans in 2002.
David Carr played college football at Fresno State – just like his younger brother would do, too. He earned All-America honors and the Johnny United Golden Arm award for being judged as the best quarterback in college football.
The older Carr played behind a horrible offensive line with the expansion Houston Texans in the team’s inaugural season. He was sacked an NFL record 76 times during his rookie year in 2002.
Holy ambulance, Batman!
That was nearly five sacks per game.
As legendary radio broadcaster Casey Kasem often said, “And the hits continue!”
Houston Texans quarterback David Carr was sacked an incredible 249 times during his first five NFL seasons. That was 3.3 sacks per game over five years.
The jittery quarterback understandably lost his nerve while playing human punching bag for the lowly Houston Texans.
David Carr would be traded to Carolina, San Francisco, and the New York Giants before mercifully ending his NFL career after 11 seasons.
Ironically, his younger brother Derek Carr’s NFL career also lasted just 11 years.
The Derek Carr debacle was the fault of Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis
Nobody in New Orleans expected Derek Carr to become the next Drew Brees.
Derek Carr’s nine years playing with the Raiders in Oakland and Las Vegas produced only two winning seasons and one playoff appearance. Carr pocketed a few hundred million dollars, though, over his nine years with the Raiders.
None of Derek Carr’s statistics with the Raiders indicated he would blossom into a future Hall-of-Famer.
He averaged nearly one interception per game with the Raiders.
Carr completed passes for an average of just seven yards per attempt during his career. That ranks in the bottom third of NFL quarterbacks during recent years.
What did New Orleans Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis see in Derek Carr to justify offering him a $150 million contract for four seasons?
Derek Carr performed just about the same in New Orleans as he did with the Raiders. His winning percentage was mediocre with both franchises.
New Orleans Saints fans could see this debacle coming. Why didn’t GM Mickey Loomis?
Derek Carr has a nice young family and is looking forward to spending more time with the wife and kids in the future.
He has more money in the bank today than Jed Clampett had in Mr. Drysdale’s Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills during the late 1960’s.
Carr will be just fine.
The New Orleans Saints, though, seem to be adrift at sea.
Saints select Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough in Round 2 of the NFL Draft
The first thing most of us Saints fans asked was, “Who Dat?”
Tyler Shough (whose name is pronounced “Shuck”) played for three different college football teams over a six-year period. He sat on the bench at Oregon behind current Chargers’ quarterback Justin Herbert.
With three years of eligibility left, Tyler Shough transferred to pass-happy Texas Tech. He broke a collar bone early in the 2021 football season – his first with the Red Raiders.
The next year Tyler Shough injured his left shoulder early in the 2022 season but eventually returned later to finish the season as the starting quarterback.
The 2023 season in Lubbock saw quarterback Tyler Shough go down with a broken fibula (lower leg) in Week #4.
Notice any trends yet?
Tyler Shough never played another game for Texas Tech in 2023 and hit the transfer portal as soon as the Raiders’ regular season ended.
His sixth year in college (due to all of his major injuries) was played at the University of Louisville.
Tyler Shough finally played a full season as the starting quarterback for a major college football team. He performed well with 32 touchdowns, only nine interceptions, and led Louisville to an 8-4 regular season record last fall in 2024.
Where was Tyler Shough when Louisville played in their post-season Sun Bowl game against the University of Washington?
He had already quit the team in order to prepare for this spring’s NFL draft.
Who was this selfish oft-injured player drafted by?
You guessed it – General Manager Mickey Loomis and the New Orleans Saints.
Tyler Shough may have a decent chance to become the Saints starting quarterback this fall if he can beat last year’s back-up quarterback, Spencer Rattler.
Did you hear about the Saints’ latest quarterback signing this week?
Former Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers was caught betting on college football games (including a $15 bet on Iowa State to win) in 2022.
He didn’t bet just one time. Dekkers bet a total of 366 times during his three seasons (mostly as a back-up quarterback) at Iowa State.
Hunter Dekkers pleaded guilty to underage gambling. The quarterback was banished by the NCAA after the 2022 college football season.
Dekkers sat out one season but returned last fall to play college football at tiny Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs – just across the river from Omaha, Nebraska.
Yes, Hunter Dekkers was academically eligible to play – for a junior college – in 2024.
Let that sink in for a moment.
Dekkers led Iowa Western to an 11-2 record last fall.
The Reivers (River Pirates) lost in the National Junior College Athletic Association title game to Hutchinson Community College of Kansas.
The New Orleans Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis signed the undrafted Hunter Dekkers to a free agent contract on Monday.
His press release by the Saints failed to mention that Dekkers had been given the heave-ho by the NCAA following his guilty plea to gambling on college football games.
Can Saints fans trust General Manager Mickey Loomis anymore?
The Saints are without a seasoned starting quarterback with successful NFL experience. The team has assembled a group of young, hungry, and quite inexperienced quarterbacks.
None of the Saints’ young pups at quarterback produced notable success in college.
Why should New Orleans Saints fans believe that any of them will emerge as an NFL star in the next year or two?
Spencer Rattler enters his second year with the Saints.
The former South Carolina (via Oklahoma) quarterback was a fifth round selection in 2024. He went 0-6 as the Saints starting quarterback last fall after Derek Carr’s season-ending injury.
The Saints maintained that Derek Carr was dealing with a “mysterious” shoulder injury for weeks prior to the NFL college football draft.
Carr waited until after the NFL draft to announce his retirement last week.
Second round selection Tyler Shough and free agent quarterback Hunter “You can bet on me” Dekkers have been signed by the New Orleans Saints in the past month.
Both have questionable college football resumes and even more questionable leadership skills at the professional level.
Is veteran NFL QB Aaron Rodgers coming to play for the Saints?
Aaron Rodgers (now 42 years old) has one Super Bowl ring and is a three-time NFL Player of the Year. He played the past two seasons for the New York Jets with little success.
Rodgers and his agent have been shopping his future services to anyone with a fat wallet. He continues to play footsie with the Pittsburgh Steelers this spring but remains a free agent as of this post.
The New Orleans Saints have a clear opening at quarterback entering this fall.
General Manager Mickey Loomis has proven that he is willing to spend a lot of money on questionable quarterback decisions. Team owner Gayle Benson continues to show confidence in Loomis as if he was the primary reason why the Saints won their lone Super Bowl 15 years ago.
He wasn’t. The Saints won despite Loomis’ oft-times questionable personnel decisions.
Would it surprise anyone if Aaron Rodgers winds-up in New Orleans this fall with a big fat 2-year contract?
Me, either.